Riccardo Geminiani

With this double CD we celebrate Francesco Geminiani's 250th anniversary (1687-1762). It's incomprehensible that a contemporary of Handel whose compositions are every bit as good as Handel's has been so neglected. There are comprehensive sleeve notes but Somm’s principle hope is to convince the listener of the beauty and expressiveness of Geminiani's music which compares very favourably with his contemporary, Handel, with whom he performed for King George I in 1714. Contains a World Premiere Recording.

The tune known as 'La Folia' has fascinated many composers since the seventeenth century. Portuguese in origin, the word means 'mad' or 'empty-headed' and until the 1670s it indicated a fast and noisy dance in which the participants seemed to be 'out of their minds'. By the end of the century a new, slower form had developed which threw the accent from the first beat on to the second every other bar and slightly adjusted the harmonic structure to form the perfect symmetry which inspired Corelli to use it in the twelfth of his Violin Sonatas, Op 5. That famous work further inspired Vivaldi, C P E Bach, Alessandro Scarlatti and other composers to write variations on 'La Folia'—including even Rachmaninov (though his 'Variations on a theme of Corelli' seem to indicate that he thought the tune was by that composer).

Francesco Geminiani - Concerti Grossi 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11 et la Follia
Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 365 MB | Full Artwork: 66 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: ZigZag # ZZT2040301.1 | Country/Year: France 2007
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque

"Ensemble 415 is a chamber ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. The numerical reference in the group's name derives from the pitch used for tuning instruments in the Baroque era. In performing chamber music, Ensemble 415 consists of just a few players, but for larger compositions, the number expands to a minimum of 13 and can reach up to as high as 40 performers. The ensemble's repertory has been broad over the years, taking in many Baroque standards by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser known fare by Muffat and others…"

This is a truly first class recording of Geminiani's op 3,his finest set of concertos.It's a delight from start to finish and even more incredible when you read in the cd booklet notes that the recording was made in October 1976 (i would have been 7 years old then!!).The Academy of Ancient Music,directed from the harpsichord by it's founder Christopher Hogwood,had only been together for 3 years at the time but as this cd demonstrates,they very quickly established the style of playing that was to become the standard for the authentic movement.As a bonus the analogue sound recording is outstanding and the music is of real quality,certainly Geminiani's very best.

Some of the Italian musicians who came to London to ‘make their fortunes’ found themselves influenced by the Celtic lands and their rich tradition of folk music. They were in their turn admired and sometimes even copied by their counterparts in the British Isles. This recording shows the outcome of that encounter. Lorenzo Bocchi was probably the first Italian cellist to settle in Edinburgh, in 1720. Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) arrived in Dublin in 1733. Since 1714 he had been resident in London, where he performed with Handel, but his passion for art dealing landed him in prison. The Earl of Essex then took him under his protection in Dublin, where he swiftly acquired a high reputation. In 1749 he published in London a collection of songs and tunes arranged as sonatas for several instruments combined with a treatise that gives us much useful information on how to play this music.